The Players so far..

Zander Kane, once a trusted and highly decorated general for the United Federation, Kane betrayed not only his own race, but his own flesh and blood to join the Dark Collective, so he could be with the woman he loved. Now, he rides stardust and slipstreams, captaining the Betha, fighting for the collective, in hope of one day freeing the worlds from the federations ruling grasp.

Gadamrie, a Golden Priestess in the Dark Collective, who before the federation came to power boasted over one million hosts as part of her mind hive. But now, only one hosts remains, the others, hunted down and killed by unknown assailants working for the president. Signs show of another mind existing within Gadamrie’s hive, which up until now, was thought to be impossible, after a brief battle between the minds, the consciousness seems to have vanished, but, for how long.

Syin-To-Twenty-Seven (Sin), Betha’s sentient companion, through the link they share Sin can control and communicate between Betha and Zander, as well as accessing and sometimes controlling other forms of technology.

Touvler, Zander’s right hand man and Betha’s co-pilot, Touvler along with two others joined Zander when he defected from the United Federations to the Dark Collective.

High Lord Quinn, Commander for the United Federation, and a Quadrapled, a slang term for a clone. Quinn’s past is still yet to be revealed, but his past association with Zander Kane makes his story more of a mystery.

President Balmires, the current elected president of the united federation, Balmires’ rise to power is one worth of it’s own story, soaked in blood and betrayal.

Last time on Dark Stars: Fire Light…

After attempting to destroy a vital defense weapon for the United Federation, Zander and the crew of  the interstellar battleship, Betha, found themselves viciously hunted down by a Z class Star Destroyer that was somehow waiting for them, turning their act of terrorism against the federation, into, a suicide run. Soon, Zander found himself a prisoner of High Lord Quinn, and his crew presumed dead, but, as Quinn prepared to kill Zander, Gadamrie, who was hidden, came to his aid, taking out Quinn and his men. Before they could make their escape, another mind took control of one of Gadamrie’s host bodies, apparently killing her, but after a brief battle of minds, Gadamrie regained control of her final host. Making contact with Sin, Betha’s android companion, Zander found out Touvler, his right hand man, was still alive and being held some levels below, as they made their plans to rescue him, they came face to face with Quinn and a league of Federation soldiers, using a cloaking technology, known as the walk of the damned, Gadamrie tried to guide them to safety, but her strength gave way, so Zander had to improvise.

And so we continue…

“I’ll see you, somewhere soon,” he says clutching the blade and charges forward, as the world explodes with colour and light. The Federation soldier’s don’t know what hit them as Zander tears his way through the soldiers, slicing a pathway of blood towards Quinn, it only takes a few seconds before he feels blaster fire tear into his side, and he crashes to the ground. He clenches his teeth together, as he drives his fists into the metal surface and screams, then forces himself up from the floor, as soldiers come from every angle and tackle him to the ground once more, then, everything goes silent, as Quinn strides towards him, while the soldiers pull the struggling Zander to his feet.

“How pathetic, did you really think that would work?” Quinn says.

Zander feels a tear run down his cheek, “I hate to say I knew it would,” he says, closing his eyes tightly as a warmth hits his back, then screams fill his ears, as everything is engulfed in a white hot light that lasts for a few seconds, and then, is gone. Slowly, he opens his eyes, around him lay the burnt remains of the Federation soldiers, and Quinn, nervously he turns around to see the charred remains of Gadamrie, he feels his lower lip quiver, and the wetness of tears cascading down his face.

“ZZZZZEETTT…. Captain Kane, do you copy?” Sin’s voice says.

He wipes the tears from his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket, and draws back a large breath, “I read you, what the hell happened?” He says as he slowly moves down the hallway, blaster at the ready.

“A defense mechanism from the destroyer interfered with our communicator, I have now convinced the destroyer to disable the device and also give me the precise location of Mister Touvlar,” Sin replies.

“How did you… No wait, I don’t what to know, I still remember what you did for that battleship in the Nourus quadrant.”

“Sir, I detected Miss Gadamrie’s expiration, I would just like to off…”

“Save it for later, just tell me how I get to Touvlar, and find me a way off this hunk of junk.”

“Of course, I have already taken the liberty of mapping out a path to Mister Touvlar, one of course that will give you the least resistance. Once you have him, getting off the said ‘hunk of junk,’ might be a tad harder, as alarms are slowly popping up across the ship.”

“Just find us a way off, we’ll handle the getting there, okay,” he says.

“Of course sir, I will map the quickest route,” Sin replies. “May I ask you to be careful sir, this is not coming just from me, Betha wishes your safe return as well, considering, your condition.”

“Tell Betha not to worry about my CONDITION,  I’ll be fine, you two just be ready to haul butt when we get our tails off this piece of scrap, okay?”

“Of course sir, I have uploaded a safe route to Mister Touvlar, and will work with the destroyer to locate you a way off.”

A blue light on Gadamrie’s golden bracelet flashes, signalling the arrival of Sin’s data, “Overlay visor,” he says, as a visor like screen appears before his eyes, acting like a pair of glasses, outlaying the route to Touvlar on it. Quickly he makes his way day the deserted corridor, he notices the ships cameras pointing towards the ground, and allows himself to grin, knowing Sin obviously worked his magic. He comes to a stop and rips a vents covering from the side of the corridor, then quickly slides in, replacing the vent as he does and seals it back in place, as the sound of a dozen or more Federation soldiers charge down the corridor. Zander quickly crawls down the duct for several sweaty minutes, until he comes to a large opening, his eyes widen as he looks around the large shaft, a small rim running around the sides of the large shaft that the vent connects onto, he tilts his head upwards and then downwards, and swallows,  he focuses on the map in front of his eyes and lets out a nervous laugh.

“Sin, are you serious?”

“I’m sorry sir, is there a situation?” Sin’s voice says.

“Damn straight there’s a situation. Your map’s telling me to jump down into the main air vent,” he says as he settles himself on the ledge, peering over into it again, he tightly squints his eyes, hoping this time to see the bottom, but still, he only sees darkness.

“That is correct Sir. If you read my instructions, they tell you, if you use maximum power and leap at an angle of at least one hundred and thirty-six degrees you will come into contact with the air duct for level two hundred and seven at some stage of your decent. My calculations based on your current weight put it at about fifteen seconds from when you jump from the coordinates I have placed into the map. Once you have successfully made the jump, and landed safely, Mister Touvlar is only two corridors away from where the vent comes out.”

“Maximum power? What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

“The information has been tailored specifically to you Sir, if you jump at full strength, you will complete the task successfully.”

Zander stares into the darkness with his mouth hanging open, “Is this seriously the safest route to Touvlar?”

“That is correct sir.”

“Great,” Zander says, as he nervously presses himself against the wall, and shuffles towards the jumping location, a few nervous minutes later, he takes three large, deep breathes, closes his eyes and pushes himself off the ledge as hard as he can, tumbling helplessly into the darkness of the shaft.

 

To Be Continued…